Rejwan v First Essentials Corp.

Annotate this Case

Download PDF

Rejwan v First Essentials Corp. 2022 NY Slip Op 32930(U) August 25, 2022 Supreme Court, Kings County Docket Number: Index No. 515253/2022 Judge: Leon Ruchelsman Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. INDEX NO. 515253/2022 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 08/30/2022 01:26 PM NYSCEF DOC. NO. 174 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/30/2022 SUPREME COURT OF THE S'rATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF KINGS : CIVIL TERM: COMMERCIAL 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . ·- ------- - - - - - - - ---- -,------ .X SHAOL R~JWAN ,_ deri vative·ly on behal_f of BABY TIME INTERNATIONAL, INC. Plaintiffs, Decision a:rid orde.r Index No. 515253/2022 - against - °FIRST tSSENTIALS CO.RP., FlRST ESSENTIALS LLC~ MENASHE BATTAT, and YAKIR BATTAT, August 25, 2022 Defendant., -- . -~- ------ ------------- -- ----. PRESENT: HON. LEON RUCHELSMAN ~ - ---x The defendant Yakir Battat has moved seeking to reargue a po-.rtio-n of the deic-i-sion dated June- 2-3, 2°022. op.poses· th~ _motio-n. The p:laJ,nt_;i_f f Pa.p~rs were submitted by the parties and arguments heloartd after reviewing all the arguments this court ri.ow ma-ke"s the_ followin_g- determinatio n. In the pripr order the. court g:r,3.nted an injunction prcihib.i,tirig the defendant Ya-kir Batta:t an employee di: Baby Time from working -with -First Essent:Lais o:n the grounds that Yak"ir maintained a duty not to directly competE= with? company he works f o-r, Yakir has how- moved seeking t.o rear_gue th.at det.ermi_n_atioJ L. H:e has ,.pres_e-nted evic:ie1,1c.e that he _no lon.ger w_orks for Baby Time and moreove.r there is no non-compete clatise preventing any such engagement by ·a competing compan..y. Thus, _even if -the two ent,it_ies ~ell the same goods, Yakir, who no longer maintains any conn·ec:tion with Baby Time, can now work for First -Essent_ials. Thus·, Yaki.t see··ks tQ vacate the. injunction._ preventing hi:m f·rom working with First Essentials. [* 1] The plaintiff 9pposes the motion 1 of 5 INDEX NO. 515253/2022 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 08/30/2022 01:26 PM NYSCEF DOC. NO. 174 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/30/2022 oh the grounds that permittin g Yakir to work with First Essentials would effective ly undermine the injunction against Manny since Manny really works together with Yakir and thus First Essential s would thereby benefit from Manny's "ongoing violations r' {see, Memorandu m of Law in Oppositio n, page 6). Thus, the oppositio n to the motion is based upon the beli_er that Manny is working in conjunctio n with Yakirand that if Yakir is allowed to work for First Essential s then Manny too will be working for First Essential s. First, there has been no evidence presented that Manny has violated any injunction imposed by the court. That serious allegation must be substanti ated by some real proof, mere conjectur e or casual assertion s within larger arguments are insufficie nt to establish violation s of court orders. More important ly, as conceded, Manny is not seeking to reargue the injunctio n placed against him. There is no basis to assume that if Yakir is permitted to work for First Essential s then Manny will work for them as well. An injunction cannot be maintained or extended based upon sorrie fear of future: violation by another party. There really is no argµment asserted that Yakir should not be permitted to work for First Essential s in his ~wn right. The only arguments raised concern Yakir's relationsh ip with Manny and speculativ e fears that Manny will somehow violate a court order and engage in clear breaches of his fiduciary duty to Baby Time. There is no basis to deny Yakir the 2 [* 2] 2 of 5 INDEX NO. 515253/2022 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 08/30/2022 01:26 PM NYSCEF DOC. NO. 174 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/30/2022 ability· to -wo·rk bas.ed upon t.ho·se l;lnfounded fe.ar;s. .1-t the-re is eyidenc~, support:~d by sul:lst:antial_ .proof,. thc1.t l'-1aµriy has v.io1a.t.e_d a court imposed injunction, the plaintiff. ±nay seek the appropriate remedy·. That po-ssibil;i:ty is. not thereby ·incre.as$d by allowing Yakir to work for Fi.rst Essentials. Ne)(t, the plaintiff arg-ues that there is evide,nce Y.akir still works for B"ab_y Time. Such evidence·· consists .of an $8, 00._0 check written on July 1, 2022 from Baby Time to Mannya The plaint.if£ a$serts. that "given. that this withdr:awal was made w:ithout the- consent of Rejwan and given that .it. is . in the. exact same amount as the payments previously made to Yakir, it i:aise.s the clE?ar infereI;1-C-e.- that these funds were ·taken to continue th-.e payments to Yakir" (see., Memorandum.i n Opposition, page 7). Notwithstand: ing t.ll.e coinciderital amount of this check, there :ts ·no evi.q.enc~ the check wa·s given td" Yakir for wo.rk p.e-rforrned, on behalf of Baby Time. The speculative natu;re -of this assertion is not su_ fficient grounds to mad.nti:l.in an inj.unct.i.on a.g-_a1nst Yak:i.r. Without sufficient evidence that Yakir still wo.rks for Bapy Tin:i.e., despite his. resignation. to the contrary;. a continuing inj uriction remains improper. The plaintiff also argues that lifting the injunction to Yakir will perm.it Mahpy to indirectly work for Fi:rst Es·-sentials ~md circumvent in a roundabout way what Manny may not q.o directly. However, as noted, there is no evidence of such 3 [* 3] 3 of 5 INDEX NO. 515253/2022 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 08/30/2022 01:26 PM NYSCEF DOC. NO. 174 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/30/2022 circumven tion. Mere allegation and speculatio n that Manny may violate the injunc:tion placed against him, for which remedies are available if he does so act, is not sufficien t grounds to enjoin Yakir from seeking gainful employmen t. plaintiff , ElPac Ltd. 1 The case cited by v. Keenpac N. Am.; 186 AD2d 893, 588 NYS2d 6 67 [ 3 rd Dept. r 19 2 2 J does not demand a contrary· result . case the court held that where there was no In that non-compe te clause then a former employee of ElPac, a seller of European style shopping bags; could solicit ElPaC's customers as soon as the employee left ElPac. The court noted that even if the employee improperly solicited customers while he still worked for ElPac that would not bar any .subsequen t solicitati on. The court explained that "we are not persuaded on this record that the European- style shopping bag market is such that the individua l defendant s' wrongful diversion df one order would give defendant s an un.fair competitiv e edge in connection with subsequen t orders from the same customerl' (id). nature The court cannot comment on the of the market for baby clothes ahd o:ther baby items, however, ElPac {supra) only supports the conclusio ns reached here that no. injunction Cari remain upon Yakir who no longer works for Baby Time. Furthermo re, ElPac also rejects the plaintiff 's argument that the injunction should remain in place as a check upon Yakir's alleged wrongful solicitati on when he was employed by Baby Time. As ElPac makes clear there is no such cnntinuou s injunction based upon alleged improper conduct. 4 [* 4] 4 of 5 FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 08/30/2022 01:26 PM NYSCEF DOC. NO. 174 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/30/2022 Therefore, based on the foregoing, reargument is granted. the motion seeking Upon rear gument the injunct io n imposed upon Yakir Battat is hereby vacated. So ordered. ENTER: DATED : August 25 , 2022 Brooklyn N.Y. Hon . Le o~ Ruchelsman JSC 5 [* 5] INDEX NO. 515253/2022 5 of 5

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.